Gentle Soul: Haku's Legacy
by Phoenix Lee Evyns
Summary: Naruto finds himself guardien of Haku's legacy, only to be shocked when he finds out what the legacy is, Can our favorite blond ninja honor his friends memory & remain sane afterward? None know what the future will bring the children of ice & snow!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I do not, will not and never will own Naruto or even Haku.. much to my disgust and dismay. I do own the kids, the trunk and etc.

This is also the only 'Haku dies' story that I will ever write, but I had to give it a crack and see if I could stomach writing something about my favorite characters death. Hope you all enjoy it, let me know what you all think.

**Gentle Soul: Haku's Legacy**

Prologue

By

Phoenix Firestorm

Naruto slowly followed his teammates and sensei back to Tazuna's place after burying Haku and Zabuza, a thoughtful expression on his face. Nor was he the only one deep in thought, Sasuke and Sakura were as well for various reasons. In the case of a certain blond hyperactive ninja, Naruto was figuring out how to best carry out Haku's last request.

"_Naruto, please do one last thing for me. My Legacy, I want you to be the caretaker and guardian of it. I also want you to have this necklace to remember me by," Haku spoke softly as he gazed at the young man who would have been his friend and second precious person if things had been different, "maybe if we meet in the next life….."_

_Naruto snorted "Of course Haku-chan, we will always be friends no matter which life we are in. I don't trust and make friends easily Haku, what ones I do have are friends for life and beyond. You are my precious person, one I will remember and honor for eternity."_

Naruto smiled sadly at that flashback of the battle, he meant every word of it too. Absently fingering the simple beautiful pendent he wore on a chain around his neck, not having had time to examine it closely. Haku told him where their compound was and how to get there, plus what traps there were as guards.

It wasn't long until they arrived at their destination and settled into familiar routines again, despite the solemn air. Nor was it long after supper that Naruto said his good-nights and headed up to bed, but didn't actually go to bed. Instead, he quickly created a clone with enough chakra to keep it going until he returned. Ordering the clone to get ready for bed before climbing into Naruto's sleeping bag.

Naruto himself slipped out the window and headed for the forest in the distance, using all his hard-learned skills as a ninja to make sure he wasn't discovered. As the young man traveled, he swore to honor Haku's last request to the best of his ability and no one is going to stop him. He'll plow right through anyone who got in his way, it didn't matter if they were the villagers, the council or……

~*~

Naruto paused on the outskirts of the area that held the compound, taking the time to examine the area first to see where all the traps and etc were. He had scouted along the border just to see how much land Zabuza and Haku claimed for their hideout, planning on buying just that amount or maybe the whole island for his own use….under a different name of course.

Once satisfied, Naruto carefully made his way pass all the traps and etc. Taking note of what kind of traps they were then planning what ones he would add to the gauntlet of death, Naruto had lots of things he would put in to deter the unwanted.

It took him several hours to actually reach the compound, then another hour to walk up the side of the tree closest it. Naruto had never been so thankful to Kakashi teaching him tree-walking as he is now, it would have taken him longer to find the other way up into the compound. If there even was another way up to it, Naruto could be sure so it just made one more thing he had to check out before he left.

The young man flipped off the tree and over to the deck that circled the compound on the outside, pausing briefly to make sure he hadn't set off anything then Naruto headed into the compound. Checking out each room as he went, taking note of what was in the rooms as he searched for Haku's room.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder what exactly his friends legacy is, Haku never said or ran out of time before he could. Either way, Naruto would find out soon enough as he had found Haku's room. He carefully stepped into the plainly decorated room, noticing what his friend had done to make it more of a home for however long they would be there.

The bed was neatly made with a set of nightclothes laying on the end, ready and waiting for Haku to use again but it would never happen. There was a vase of wildflowers sitting on the dresser, along with a spare mask and whatever toiletries Haku used. The closest had what clothes his friend owned, the same with the drawers. The bookshelf didn't have much on it either, nor did the nightstand.

It wasn't until Naruto moved Haku's spare mask that he found a scroll with his name on it, hidden underneath. Curious, Naruto picked up the scroll and started to read once he dealt with whatever security Haku put on it.

"_Naruto-kun:_

"_If you are reading this then it means that our fondest wishes did not come true, it also means that I am dead. I hope my death did some good and I protected my precious people, I hope my death meant something to those who witnessed it. "_

Naruto sighed sadly, thinking of how right his friend is so far. Haku's death wouldn't be in vain, he wasn't sure about Sasuke or Sakura but he himself definitely learned a lot from it and would never forget the ice user.

"_Please don't beat yourself up too much Naruto-kun, as much as I enjoyed our short meeting and the budding friendship between us. I swore to always be there for my precious person, to protect him with my life if need be."_

"_Now for the reason behind this letter, I hope I had time to give you the necklace and tell you how to get here. At least give you several hints before my death, the seal at the end of this scroll is a storage seal and contains my legacy. You will need to use a bit of your blood to remove it from the seal, other instructions will appear after that."_

Naruto decided to see what the legacy is first before he went any further, so carefully bite his thumb and wiped the blood over the seal. Nearly jumping a foot when the cloud of smoke appeared in his face, only to frown when a small wooden box the size of a baby's hand appeared in his own hand. Naruto put the scroll down on the dresser and read the little note attached to the box, then did as it said.

He put the box on the floor in the middle of the room and pushed some chakra into the box, Naruto didn't have long to wait for something to happen. He got knocked on his butt when the box quickly began to grow, becoming a rather large trunk. Now the young man was really curious about what his friend left him, Naruto studied the trunk some more then tried to open it.

Jerking his hand back when he felt a sharp prick against his hand, Naruto looked down and frowned when he saw the slash rapidly heal thanks to the fox. Blood covered his hand and smeared over the lock of the trunk, so he assumed that the trunk was protected by a special blood seal of some kind. Naruto had heard of them briefly over the years, a couple times during class at the academy and a few times when he was visiting the old man. All Naruto really remembered is that blood seals were used to protect really important things, like Clan techniques and etc.

Naruto glanced at the scroll again as he cleaned the blood off his hand, not too surprised to see more words appear under the seal that contained the trunk. They young ninja picked up the scroll again and continued to read, a variety of expressions racing over his face as he read. Surprise, shock, disbelief were the main ones.

"_Naru-kun, by now you have discovered the trunk and been inflicted with pain by the seal on it. This is the only way theses words would appear for you to read and move on to the next step of my legacy, the trunk is a very special one and more than it seems. It is also yours to keep, my gift to you among others._

"_I got the trunk as payment from an old man that Zabuza-sama and I 'assisted' not long after we fled Mist Country, Zabuza-sama got the usual payment in coins as that would have interested him more than an old trunk. Nor did the old man stay long once we got him safely to his destination, although I did get to know him quite well before we parted ways. He became another 'precious person' to me and is a very interesting person, someone I would recommend you to become acquainted with should you ever meet."_

"_He said that he was a traveler and spent most of his life journeying through the known and unknown lands, documenting adventures as he went. We never did learn his name during the brief time we were together, I also got the feeling that he went by many different names….."_

Naruto continued to read the scroll, absorbing what Haku had to tell him.

"_As for the trunk itself Naruto, I didn't completely understand most of what he said about it. To put it in easy words, he said that it was a magical trunk which would be something along the lines of our storage scrolls. In the end, I simply understood magic to be like chakra for us. Not everyone is able to use magic or chakra, but we all have it to a degree."_

"_The trunk has 15 compartments, all but 2 are expandable….meaning that they hold a whole lot more than anyone believed possible. The first 2 compartments of the trunk are normal and what you expect to see within an ordinary piece of baggage like this."_

Naruto paused briefly to lift the lid up on the trunk to look inside, seeing that Haku is right. The inside of the trunk wasn't anything different or out-of-the-ordinary, he even put his hands inside to feel around the sides and bottom to be sure. Once done, Naruto went back to the scroll to read more. Curious to find out how to get to the other compartments, wondering what Haku meant by expandable.

"_To switch over to the next compartment, you need to send a small amount of chakra into the carved emblem around the lock. As you do this, you have to picture the compartment that you want access too. At least you will be able to picture which compartment you want once you become familiar with each one and their contents, I have listed below what each compartment is to help you out."_

Naruto felt his eyes widen some as he read what Haku wrote about each compartment and quickly put the scroll aside, excited to explore the trunk in full.

"_Compartment 1 & 2 - normal trunk space._

_Compartment 3 - expandable living quarters_

_- 5 bedroom suites (more will appear if needed)_

_- full-size kitchen (fully stocked)_

_- dining room_

_- family/living room_

_- 2 bathrooms_

_- fully equipped game room_

_- den/study_

_- fully equipped playroom (children only)_

_- nursery (if needed)_

_Compartment 4 - expandable library, already fully stocked with books, scrolls and etc._

_Compartment 5 - expandable medical facility already fully stocked and equipped with everything needed for any situation and then some."_

Naruto snorted at that, finding the claim just a little hard to believe but then again, it could be true.

"_Compartment 6 - expandable potions facility, fully stocked and equipped with everything needed._

_Compartment 7 - expandable greenhouse, already stocked with plants of various types. Mostly medical because that is what I was interested in, but there are others that you may like. I could tell from the way you helped me gather the plants I needed for Zabuza-sama that you loved plants just as I do, so you will most likely enjoy this compartment Naruto. There is even room for you to have a vegetable/herb garden, this way you can attempt to grow your own food and not have to worry about buying it._

_Compartment 8 - expandable training facility, equipped with everything a Shinobi will need to become the best in whatever field they needed._

_Compartment 9 - expandable fitness/gym facility, fully equipped with everything you will need to stay in shape and then some. I used this and the training facility when we were on the move too much for me to do an actual work-out, it came in very handy as you probably saw in our upcoming battles._

_Compartment 10 - expandable spa & etc, no other explanation needed. Especially useful if you've had an extremely hard day and need to relax, even Zabuza-sama used this on occasion…not that he will ever actually admit to needing such a thing."_ Naruto snickered at that, picturing in his head exactly what Haku meant by that.

"_Compartment 11 - expandable storage facility, no other explanation needed._

_Compartment 12 - expandable armory, fully stocked with all the goodies a certain unpredictable knucklehead ninja I know will ever need to reach his dream."_

Naruto chuckled, Haku already figured out just how he worked in the short time they knew each other. The young man couldn't wait to see what toys his friend left him in that armory, it was certain to be interesting that is for sure.

"_Compartment 13 - expandable treasury, you can keep everything you value in here Naruto…including your pay if you want._

_Compartment 14 - expandable blacksmith/weapon smith/fletches & etc, no other explanation needed._

_Compartment 15 - expandable hobby room, can become whatever you need for any hobbies you may have. I used it as an art studio for my sketching and paintings, something I did to help me relax and think over bothersome problems."_

Now that got Naruto's attention, he had no idea that his friend was an artist and curiosity arose in him to see some of Haku's work. As for the hobby room itself, Naruto had to admit that he was stumped as to what he had for hobbies. Other than his plants, pranks and training to be the best ninja he could be. Naruto really didn't have much else to spend his time on, maybe the contents of this trunk will help him find out more pastimes he could enjoy himself with.

Before Naruto did anything more with the trunk, he put the scroll down and switched back to the first compartment. He then got to his feet and proceeded to gather up all of Haku's belongings, carefully packing everything into the first compartment. Naruto emptied the dresser, closet, shelves, nightstand and stripped the bedding from the bed. He'll decide what to do with the stuff later, Naruto just wanted to be sure not to leave anything behind.

Once done in Haku's room, he switched to the next compartment and did the same with Zabuza's room. The room that the Demon Brothers used was also emptied and put into the same compartment as Zabuza's belongings, this also got him thinking about the brothers and he wondered if they were still alive or if the old man ordered them killed.

Once done with the bedrooms, Naruto decided to explore the living quarters compartment. He couldn't help but be curious about how they would get a whole house or something like that in a trunk, it seemed impossible to him. Naruto put his hand on the carving and focused on the compartment he wanted next, putting in the smallest amount of chakra that he could. This is something that still gave him trouble but his control was slowly getting better, he just had to keep practicing and not give up.

Naruto took his hand away after a few moments then eagerly opened the trunk lid to look inside, somewhat surprised to see a spiral staircase lead down into the trunk. Curiosity really raging through him now, Naruto climbed into the trunk and slowly followed the stairs down. Looking up when he got to the bottom and only saw darkness overhead, nothing else but the stairs.

The young man then directed his attention to the area around him and saw that he was inside some kind of elaborate courtyard, there was a fountain in the middle and not far away. Around the sides of the courtyard were narrow flowerbeds, Naruto checked out the bed closest to him but couldn't tell what kind of plants were in it.

The kid slowly wandered around the courtyard, exploring as much as he could. Spending more than a few moments at the fountain when he saw the small rainbow-like fish swimming within, water lilies also dotted the surface. Naruto would have stayed there longer but he had to finish his exploration of this compartment, the courtyard was just so calm and peaceful that he really didn't want to leave. Naruto eventually forced himself to head toward the large door he found earlier, promising to come back to the courtyard later.

Naruto went up the few steps that lead to the door and took ahold of the knob, not too surprised with the fact that it opened easily. Although he will have to do something about the security later, can't have just about anyone gaining access to what will soon be his sanctuary. Naruto pushed open the door and stepped through into what looked to be the entryway, a good size one in fact. There was a coat closet off to one side where a person could leave their outerwear until needed again, on the other side hung a very nice landscape painting.

Naruto moved closer for a better look, he wasn't much for art but he did try to show his appreciation of the ones he did like. It wasn't until he got a good look at the signature tucked almost out of sight in the bottom corner that his mouth dropped open and both eyes widen. In fact, they nearly popped out of their sockets!

'H. M' was neatly written in the corner with icicles around it, there was only 2 people that he knew of with letters like that at the beginning of their names.

Haku and Zabuza, H would be for Haku's name while M is for Momochi which is Zabuza's last name. Naruto took another look at the painting, thinking in his head "Whoa, Haku-chan did this….awesome!!!!"

Naruto gazed at the painting awhile longer then turned to explore the rest of the compartment, not noticing that he was being observed from the very painting he just turned away from. A very familiar face peeked around the edge of the frame and giggled, another familiar figure was hidden among the plant growth within the painting itself.

The 2 painted images waited until Naruto had vanished out of sight before they came out of their shelters, meeting beside the lake in the painting.

"Do you think he figured it out yet?" The younger of the 2 asked in amusement.

"Not likely." The elder figure answered gruffly, "the brat may be good but he still has a long way to go yet. Thankfully, we can help him out from whichever frame we happen to be in. Having paintings of us that actually appear alive is one of your better ideas son, even if I didn't think so at the time."

"Thank you father," the younger replied, "now we had better get going. I want to watch Naru-chan's reaction to the rest of this place, it will certainly be entertaining. Thankfully I have lots of magical paintings we can travel through, even though I waited until I had gotten to a certain level in my paintings before I even used that special paint which created these moving paintings." The older figure agreed and both dashed for the side of the painting, vanishing from sight. Although it wasn't long before they were seen again in the other magical paintings as they trailed along behind Naruto, always making sure to not be seen whenever he happen to look in their direction.

Naruto, on the other hand, found what looked to be a formal dining room with a formal living room/parlor across the hall from it. He didn't recognize the furnishings or anything else within the rooms, just that they looked to be very expensive so he decided to leave the rooms alone for now.

The young man went a little further down the hall and soon came to a large open room that looked to be a combined kitchen, dining room and family room all in one. Much like his apartment back home in Konoha, Naruto went to the kitchen and started to check out the cupboards. Everything was well stocked with all kinds of food, some of which he never seen or heard of before.

Naruto paused briefly in the kitchen, a thoughtful expression on his face. Nor was it very long before he came to a decision. Naruto's hands flashed through the seals and 5 clones appeared around him, he asked the clones to go bring everything from the hideout kitchen here but to not worry about equipment like pots and pans. He only wanted the food, both dry, canned, fresh and frozen brought here so it won't have a chance to go bad.

The clones all nodded then took off down the hall again, arriving back at the courtyard where they climbed the spiral staircase and left the trunk to carry out the boss's orders. Something that really didn't take them very long, despite the fact that they had to make several trips.

Naruto continued to explore the compartment, soon discovering the half bathroom for this level of the living quarters. On the other side of the family room were a pair of stain glass doors, Naruto carefully pushed them open only to freeze in surprise at what he found. The only thought in his head at that moment was "This must be the Game Room of all Game Rooms!!!"

He slowly gazed about the room, recognizing some of the games but there were many that he didn't. There was the pool table, dartboard, a card table set up in a corner for those who wanted to play card games. There was several cabinets lining one wall which probably contained more games of who knows what kinds, Naruto was having trouble just wrapping his mind around it all.

On the other side of the room was the largest t.v. he had ever seen, the shelves around it had vast collections of DVDs, games for the various game systems set up under the t.v.

The opposite side had what looked to be a bar, Naruto headed over to check it out. Hopping that there wasn't any alcohol there, if so then he would have to do something about it. Naruto didn't want to have liquor out where it will be a temptation, especially for those not old enough.

Naruto just sighed when he saw all the bottles of different kinds of alcohol lining the shelves of the cabinet, again…many he didn't recognize. Although some of them had the strangest names like Fire Whiskey, Dragons Breath, Butter Beer and etc. Interesting names but still very strange, he didn't even want to think about what they tasted like. Naruto closed the doors of the cabinet with a frown on his face, this will have to go on the list of stuff to lock up. Something that will have to be done before he even let anyone else in here, that is if he ever decided to share this with anyone else.

"Well, correction…I'll show my gift from Haku to the old man. I bet this will blow his socks off and cause him to almost swallow his pipe, that will be something I would certainly like to get a photo of. I'll definitely show my new toy to Iruka-sensei though, he's going to be shocked senseless about it all. Other than those 2, I don't know who else to show my sanctuary to. Maybe Ayame nee-san and her father, old man Ichiraku will love that kitchen. Konohamaru and his friends will love the game room, but I'm not bringing them in until I make it safe for the little brats." Naruto muttered thoughtfully as he finished his exploration of the game room.

Naruto left the game room, making sure to carefully close the doors behind him, he glanced over at the kitchen and saw that his clones were putting things away in their proper places. Naruto left the clones to their task and headed over to the narrow staircase along one side of the family room, slowly making his way up it but pausing often to examine things that caught his interest.

Once Naruto reached the top of the stairs, he looked about the huge room and realized that this was a lounge of some type. One whole wall was nothing but large floor to ceiling windows, no curtains or shades or anything else. The young ninja made his way pass the overstuffed comfortable chairs to look outside the huge windows, only to have an expression of stunned awe appear on his face at the sight of the beautiful but savage scene before him.

The windows showed him an impressive seascape with mighty waves crashing against unmovable stone cliffs, seabirds flew lazily overhead as they searched for food. The sky was very close to being the same shade of blue as his eyes, only a few faint wispy clouds could be seen.

Naruto honestly didn't have anything to say about the breathtaking sight in front of him, the expression on his face said it all. He was so caught up with the scene in the window that he didn't sense the observers in the painting behind him next to the stairs, nor did he hear their whispered conversation.

"I knew he would react like that," the younger one whispered, "I did the same thing when I first saw it!"

"Wonder what he'll do when he realizes that the scene will change to whichever one he wants, the only condition is that he has to have actually been there physically for it to work?" The older one muttered.

Both shut up and froze, appearing to be part of the painting they were currently in when Naruto finally turn away from the window to finish exploring the compartment. The young ninja headed back across the room, heading for the hall he saw from the top of the stairs. Again, never noticing that the paintings weren't your normal every-day pieces of art.

The first door Naruto opened in the hallway was, not-to-surprisingly, another half-bath. Normally he would have wondered why it wasn't a full bath but later assumed that the bedrooms each had their own, so a full bath wouldn't necessarily be needed. Naruto didn't bother to give the room a full examination, he would do that later on when he had more time.

The next three doors all opened into bedrooms, rather nice and tastefully decorated bedrooms at that. Of course, he didn't know a lot about fashion or styles or interior decorating so all he could really say is that it look nice. The door after those surprised him, he wasn't expecting an office like the old mans or maybe it is what they called a study. Either way, it looked way nicer than the old mans ever could, even with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves full of books and other things. There was even a window with another awesome scene in it, not the same oceans cape he had already seen but a different one.

Naruto stepped further into the room, gazing around at the furnishings and other decorations. Most of the room was done in different shades of wood with splashes of color scattered about, no orange unfortunately but not everyone is crazy about how wonderful orange is….like him.

The desk itself was also made out of wood and looked like a piece of art with how it was carved, in fact it appeared to be done out of one complete piece of wood and not individual pieces like normal. Naruto moved around the huge work surface and carefully sat down in the chair, testing it out and found it to be pretty comfortable. Not too comfortable so he won't get any work done, but just right for someone like him. What Naruto didn't know is that the room took a 'feel' of its new master then adjusted itself accordingly to suit that masters needs.

Naruto explored the contents of the desk drawers but didn't find anything out of the ordinary in them, some of the stuff he found would have to be examined more closely later on when he had more time. Like that thin rectangle shaped piece of metal. Which, when he opened it up, showed what looked to be a t.v. screen on the top and a bunch of keys lined the bottom.

He didn't want to mess with it too much so carefully put it away, continuing his careful search of the room. Naruto soon came across another door tucked into a corner of the room, something that he didn't see right away. The blond ninja frowned as he moved toward it, curiosity but also wariness on his face.

Naruto put his hand on the door to open it since there wasn't a knob only to jerk his hand away when another stab of pain shot up his arm. He swore rather fluently when he saw the bloody handprint on the door, but frowned when he watched it disappear into the door.

The blond ninja reached out slowly and lightly touched the door, yanking his hand back again when the door swung open. Naruto cautiously took a few steps toward the opening, all senses alert for danger and 1 hand on his weapon pouch. Once at the door frame, Naruto peered into the room. Eyes blinking several times when the lights came on, only to have them widen in stunned disbelief at what he saw.

There were rows and rows and rows of shelves full of books of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Each shelving unit had 10 shelves and there were about 10 rows of bookcases, at least that he could see from here. Nor did Naruto go any further for fear of actually getting lost, there had to be more books and scrolls in that room than all of the elemental countries combined. Naruto suddenly got a very scary thought, his teammate Sakura devours books like he devours ramen. There is absolutely, positively no way in all of his and the foxes lifetimes combined that he is showing her this!!!!! He would never get her out of here if she saw all this, not to mention he didn't want to even imagine how much their team would suffer because of it! Naruto stepped back out of the room and carefully shut the door behind him, making sure it locked again so no one else would get in. He will do something about that library much later, although Naruto didn't think he would ever have all the contents memorized or read.

The blond ninja took one more look around the study then left to move on to the next room, not too surprised to se that it was another bedroom. Except this one appeared to have been lived in, so Naruto assumed that it is the master bedroom and the one Haku used while alive.

Curious, Naruto moved further into the room. He wanted to learn more about his deceased friend, so this would be the only way he knew how to do it. Naruto also decided to claim this room as his own, he really didn't think Haku would mind too much. The blond ninja continued to explore the room, checking out the closet and bathroom. Pretty impressed with what he had found so far, more clothes hung in the closet and lay in the drawers but these were of better quality and fancier. So Naruto knew that most of them weren't for every day wear, he would have to pack most of Haku's things away so nothing will happen to them. Maybe store the boxes in the storage compartment, something else he needed to check out before he forgot afterward.

Naruto chuckled, already planning on moving his belongings from the apartment to the trunk once he got back to the village. This way if he ever had to leave in a hurry, he won't have to worry about supplies or his own belongings. Naruto wasn't fooled or under any illusions on how people back home really thought of him or how he was treated because of it, the old man and what friends he had in the ANBU or among the other ninjas did their best. Except they couldn't be everywhere, stop everything or everyone.

There will always be someone, somewhere who will either escape to attack again someday or plot another strike against him from the shadows…getting other like-minded idiots to do the dirty work. Naruto smirked slyly, Haku just gave him a way to survive and make fast escapes with the gift of this trunk. The kid didn't want to think of having to leave the village of his birth sometime in the future, he wanted to stay and achieve his dream of becoming Hokage. He wanted to stay and protect his precious people, he wanted to prove those bastards that he wasn't the fox but Naruto Uzumaki….ninja extraordinaire!

Naruto sighed "I need to be realistic and have several fall-back plans in case something happens, I also need to have a second and third dream. My dream of becoming Hokage is all well and good, but if I can't become Kage of Konoha…I could always become Kage of another village or even create my own." The young man snorted at that idea, not exactly dismissing either but it would take a lot of thought and work to make it reality. Naruto shook his head abruptly, shoving those depressive thoughts away until he actually had time to deal with them for good. The same with all his backup plans and alternate dreams, but he could lay the groundwork and add more to them a little at a time.

By this time Naruto had finished with the master bedroom and would have left but noticed another door almost tucked out of sight not far from the bed, he headed over to find out what it lead to. Hoping that this door wasn't like the one in the study nor that the room behind it is another library, only to breath a sigh of relief when it opened like any other door and the room wasn't a library but instead something different.

In fact, it looked like a babies room. After this, Naruto suddenly remembered that the living quarters included a nursery and playroom for any children there might be. The blond ninja smiled faintly as he looked about the room, now this room was cool and decorated like a kids room should be. There weren't many toys around but Naruto suspected that most of those were in the playroom, he also assumed that one of the 3 doors in the room lead to the mentioned room.

The other door probably contained the closet while the last one is the door he came through, Naruto slowly moved along the sides of the nursery and checked out everything. One side of the room was obviously the changing and bathing area, judging by the fact that there was a sink and changing table plus numerous storage places. Another side was definitely devoted to quiet time, what with the large window covered by curtains and rocking chair beside shelves of books. The door to the master bedroom didn't contain much, just a single person futon and more storage in case someone needed to be here for the kids. The last side was covered with a beautiful mural painted over the wall, he could almost swear that the image was alive and moved but Naruto quickly dismissed it as him seeing things.

Naruto finally made his way over to the large dual cradle that lay close to the center of the room, admiring how well the furnishings were made and etc. He tossed a quick glance into the cradle before he turned away, clearly not expecting to find anything within the bed only to have what he saw slam into him with all the force of a hurricane. Naruto spun back around and gazed down into the cradle with an expression of total shock mixed with disbelief and surprise on his face, blinking several times as if trying to connect what he saw with his eyes to his brain as the truth.

There, sleeping peacefully and rather soundly, were 2 little babies laying next to each other. Naruto took a guess and decided that one was a boy while the other is a girl, of course the clothes the infants wore also helped out too. Naruto just stood there and gazed at the twins as they slept, a faint smile on his face as their dreams made tiny limbs move slightly. He just had trouble believing that Haku was a Daddy, Naruto also had a sinking feeling that the twins are the legacy Haku left for him to look after.

It suddenly hit him then that the twins were orphans like him, their father was dead and he suspected the same of their mother…if she was a ninja that is. Naruto couldn't help but wonder why Haku did what he did, why his new friend went into battle knowing that he may die and leave his children orphans.

Naruto was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't hear the door to the playroom open and someone start to enter the nursery, only to stop when they saw him standing there. At first the person didn't do anything, then continued on into the nursery and closed the door behind them.

"The boys name is Jinhai and the girl is Nevaeh Halcyone, they are about 8 months old or they will be in a week." The person finally spoke and startling Naruto enough that he literally jumped a foot in the air, spun around and landed with his face toward the person who spoke.

Naruto inhaled sharply and felt his eyes widen enough to be dinner plates, nor did he say anything right away as he was shocked speechless. Several moments went by before Naruto managed to pull himself together enough to say anything coherent, moving a couple steps toward the person with his right hand pointing a finger at them shakily.

"Ha…Haku?!?!?!" Naruto said brokenly.

The person, now identified as Haku, slowly shook his head then smiled sadly as he said "I'm sorry Naru-kun but I'm not the boss, just one of four shadow clones he created the day he met you. Boss wanted to be sure the kids would be okay if something happened to him, he also wanted you to have assistance if you needed it.

"Ho….How!?!?!" Naruto asked softly but also curiously as everything he knew about shadow clones said that they vanished if something happened to the creator, so by rights the clones should be gone.

"Simple," Clone Haku replied, "this crystal pendent hanging from the choker around my neck contains enough of the Boss's chakra to keep me from going 'poof'. I guess that there is enough chakra within it to last me a year, longer if I am careful. My task is to look after the children and teach you to be a father, this way you will know what to do when my time finally comes to go 'poof'."

This ended up being too much for Naruto, he fainted from a combination of shock and information overload. Clone Haku moved quickly enough to catch the Boss's friend, picking him up easily and carrying the blond 12 year old over to the futon. Once done with Naruto and getting the preteen comfortable, Clone Haku then went to check on the babies to see if they had woken up.

Breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that they were still sound asleep, a faint smile appeared on his face as he watched them dream on. The clone couldn't help but be more than a little sad that Boss Haku was dead, that his creator would never get to see his children grow up. He knew why the boss did what he did, the boss did it for his precious people. The boss sacrificed himself to save the man he considered a father, not that it did much good really. The clone knew from his memories and experience that Zabuza won't go down without a fight, taking as many with him as he could. The boss also sacrificed himself for his children, wanting to get them out of the life of being a fugitive and into a normal life. Either as a civilian or some kind of warrior, leaving them in the care of Naru-kun.

Clone Haku watched the babies a while longer then went over to the small meditation corner he set up, deciding to meditate until either Naru-kun or the babies woke up. This would also help conserve his chakra and allow it to last longer, it is also helpful in clearing his mind and helping him to become more focused on his assigned task. Clone Haku knew he would need his wits about him and had to be as focused as he could be for the questions Naru-kun is sure to have once the kid regained consciousness, he just had to be sure and make his answers clearly understandable.


	2. Chapter 1

Finally, I got this completely typed up and ready to post!!!! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter everyone, but it took me awhile to figure out just where I wanted to go next with this story then things were more a little crazy at the end of summer, so I didn't get a chance to finish it like I had promised in the reviews I answered and said in my bio page. Now that it is done, hopefully it won't take me as long to write up the next chapter as this one did. Enjoy the chapter and again, I apologize for taking so long.

**Disclaimer: **I do not, have not and never will own Naruto or any of the animes or etc that this story cross over into unfortunately. I do own the trunk, the twins and several other things/characters that will be making an appearance in the story as it goes along.

**Gentle Soul: Haku's Legacy**

Chapter 1

By

Phoenix Firestorm

Naruto slowly returned to the land of wakefulness and wondered what happened, last thing he remembered was the trunk….

The preteen snapped full awake and bolted upright as everything that occurred last night came back to him, he spun around on the futon to look about the room. Eyes widening more when Naruto saw that he didn't dream everything, Haku-chan had kids….a boy and a girl!

Naruto's eyes snapped over to the other side of the room when he heard voices, blinking several times when he saw clone Haku standing there looking after the children. Nor was it long before the clone glanced over and saw that he was awake, then turned his attention back to Jinhai.

Naruto silently watched Clone Haku care for the babies as if he had done it forever, getting each ready for what looked to be their next meal. Almost as if to prove him right, there was a beeping sound coming from where the small kitchenette/food prep area was located. It wasn't much really, just a small fridge and freezer , a 2 burner stovetop that looked like it could be packed away when not in use. Right now there was a pot of what looked to be boiling water on one of the burners, 2 baby bottles of milk sat within….warming up to the right temperature.

"Good morning Naru-kun, how well did you sleep?" C. Haku asked as he came over with one of the babies cradled carefully in one arm, bottle in his other hand.

"Pretty good I guess," Naruto replied somewhat dazedly, "still having trouble picturing Haku-chan as a father. I mean, he would probably be a very good parent….just….why now and why leave them orphans?" C. Haku chuckled "Well, the why part of your question has a very funny answer. Basically Zabuza-sama 'chickened out' of giving Boss 'the talk' when puberty struck, so got one of his friends to do it for him. One thing led to another and the twins are the end result, Boss refused to give them up once they were born so used the trunk apartment to raise them in." " Zabuza-sama didn't mind once he got use to them and the shock wore off, don't spread this around but he even played with them a few times….baby talk and all! Boss even has memories of Zabuza-sama saying grandkids and etc to them when Boss was out of the room." Naruto thought about it for a moment then tried to picture Zabuza Momochi, dread Demon of the Bloody Mist, a baby-lov'n-gushy-mushy grandfather.

Snickers started to escape Naruto's mouth but he tried to stifle them, only they refused to be contained. It wasn't long before the blond ninja was roaring with laughter, the image of Zabuza with sword on his back plus baby in each arm and wearing an apron that said 'Proud Sword-Tote'n Grandfather' on it.

C. Haku giggled as well while he waited for Naru-chan to regain control of himself again, it took some time but eventually Naruto did put himself together…snickers still escaping at times. Nor did C. Haku give the knucklehead nin time to do anything else, he put the bottle down on the floor and startled Naruto with a baby in his arms.

C. Haku chuckled and patiently showed Naru-chan how to hold the toddler properly then gave him the bottle, making sure Naruto was holding it right before he went back to get the other toddler and return to the futon.

Together, the 2 of them gave the twins their breakfast. Although Naruto probably didn't notice anything but the toddler in his arms, he had such an intense expression of awe and wonder on his face. Like it was the first thing he has ever done that didn't backfire in his face or get him into trouble, that the people around him could never tarnish or ruin for him.

Haku softly said "Zabuza-sama says she is going to be a little heartbreaker when she grows up, he pities the males that happen to be around when she is . Mainly because Nevaeh had him wrapped around her tiny fingers at first glance, baby puppy eyes no jutsu at full power!"

Naruto snorted, he could believe that, Neva has definitely inherited her father's feminine beauty which looked good on her. It also looked like her brother inherited some as well but that could just be the usual baby charm, at least he hoped so or the poor guy is going to have a gender complex by the time Jin reaches adulthood.

C. Haku showed Naruto how to burp Neva once she finished her bottle, he made sure the ninja's clothes were covered with a blanket before Nevaeh had a chance to upchuck her breakfast all over Naruto…which she didn't thankfully. When that was done, Naruto got to play with the twins while C. Haku cleaned up. Something which didn't take very long as it was just the 2 bottles, there would be a bit more come lunch time.

C. Haku came back over, picked up Jinhai and motioned for Naruto to follow with Nevaeh. The older teen lead the way across the nursery to the other door and pushed it open, revealing the playroom as Naruto thought it was last night. The room was large and spacious with lots of room for the kids to go crazy in as they grew, one wall was lined with large windows that let in all kinds of natural light.

C. Haku went over and leaned down to put Jin on the soft fun mat spread out over the floor, Naruto followed and put Neva beside her brother. He stayed crouched down and studied all the neat things build into the mat, there were crinkly things….stuffy things….smoochy things and etc.

"I let the twins play here for a few hours, sometimes until lunch time." C. Haku explained as he sat down beside the mat, keeping a close eye on the kids.

"Technically they don't need the bottle anymore as they are old enough to drink from a sippy cup, but they only get one a day which is breakfast. The rest of the time it is from a cup and kid-size dishes." C. Haku continued as he watched the kids play, "after lunch they usually have an hour long nap then get up to play some more."

"Do they know that their father and grandfather are dead, that they aren't coming back?" Naruto asked softly, his voice subdued.

"Yes and no, both Boss and Zabuza-sama made no secret in the fact that they were on the run….that they were ninja and may not come back alive….let alone in one piece. They understand in their limited ability because of their age, but they should still see the graves to say good-bye." C. Haku replied just as softly.

"So they know you are a clone and not the real thing?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

"Oh definitely, Boss and Zabuza-sama didn't hid the fact that they were Shinobi. The twins have already been introduced to the tools of the trade, meaning weapons and jutsus. Boss sometimes used his bloodline to help keep the twins cool whenever they got sick and had a fever, used some mirrors to help keep an eye on them too whenever he couldn't make a clone or 2." Clone Haku chuckled as memories came to the surface.

Naruto watched the twins a bit then sighed and got to his feet, as much as he would love to stay here and play with the kids. He had a trunk to finish exploring and plans to make, maybe later on he could come back and play.

"The other clones are scattered about the other compartments," C. Haku spoke up, "there's one in the hidden library attached to the study. One in the medical facility compartment, one in the greenhouse compartment, one in the hobby room and the last one…me….here."

"Oji!" Jinhai suddenly called out, getting their attention.

"Oji-Naru!" Nevaeh followed her brother.

Naruto was stunned speechless, the twins had just met him and already they were calling him 'uncle'.

"Don't be so surprised Naru-kun, Boss told the twins all about you when he got back from meeting you the first time. Boss would often tell them things as he was getting them settled for the night, he called it personal family time just for them." "They even call the Demon Brothers 'Uncle', much to their chagrin and unease. Neither one warmed up to the twins right away, although Boss says that they did before Zabuza-sama did and that it was because they are twins as well. Twins are drawn to twins, I wouldn't be surprised if the twins started to show signs of the bond all children of multiple births have. Jinhai and Nevaeh are already using twin-speak, not very well but it's there." Hearing about the Demon Brothers reminded Naruto that he should send word home to the old man and tell him to hold off on their fate until he got back, so asked C. Haku if there was any sort of communications place here.

"I believe so," the clone answered thoughtfully, "boss didn't get a chance to fully explore the trunk after he got it. He only discovered and listed the 15 you read about, boss later found mention that there were actually 20 compartments. One being a security/communications room, you can use that if you can find it."

"Although, if you are in a hurry and can't take time to search. You can use a summons, boss found tons of contracts in the hidden library. You will have to ask the clone there to help or you'll get lost, boss almost did a few times before he decided to just use clones to map the place out. I'll tell him to meet you at the entrance, that way you won't be kept waiting." "Summon contracts, really?!" Naruto replied as his eyes lit up with anticipation.

He knew a little bit about such things, most of it the old man told him during their talks. Some he managed to learn at the academy when he was able to stay awake, although Naruto had a pretty good idea on what they were…and used for.

"There, I told Clone 1 about you and he is going to meet you at the door. Hopefully you can find a summons that will accept you," C. Haku spoke up after a few moments of silence, "you may even be able to sign more than 1 but I can't be sure." "Cool, thanks CH-2!" Naruto exclaimed as he spun around to dash back the way he came only to stop suddenly and looked over his shoulder at the clone, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I don't want to leave you 3 alone, are you going to be okay h ere?" Naruto asked I concern.

C. Haku chuckled "Oh we'll be fine, but if you want to create a clone as well and leave it here. I can begin your lessons on fatherhood, that way when it dispels….you will get its memories and know what to do."

Now this surprised Naruto and it showed too, he didn't know shadow clones could do that and it really made sense in a way that he felt foolish about. After a few moments he just chuckled weakly and quickly created another clone, giving this one extra chakra so it will last longer. When the clone appeared, Naruto left it in C. Haku's capable hands then took off back to that hidden room in the study.

~*~

C. Haku or rather CH-1 as Naruto finally began to call them in his head to keep them straight, looked up when the door to the hidden library opened and let in Naru-kun as boss always called him. He stood by the table set against the wall not far from the door and waited for the blond ninja to join him, although CH-1 had a faint smile on his face as Naruto couldn't stop looking around at all the shelves and their contents.

"Hello Naru-kun," CH-1 spoke kindly, "it is nice to finally meet you face-to-face. Knowing you via Boss's memories isn't the same thing as a physical meeting, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah, I guess. You really know where everything is in this place, it looks like a maze to me?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Pretty much, I know where to find what I am looking for but don't have everything indexed just yet. Since clones don't need to eat, just sleep or even meditation to ration the chakra given us by Boss. We can work pretty much nonstop, although we are confined to the rooms in our care."

"I can go anywhere in this room, the study and library compartment but not anywhere else in the trunk. CH-2, whom you met just now, is restricted to the nursery and playroom. Although that may change as the twins grow older and gradually move out of the nursery to their own rooms, the playroom will probably still be used by them but not the nursery."

"The same thing applies to Ch-3 and 4, I don't think those 2 mind any though as they have whole compartments to themselves. About the only one of us clones that can go anywhere in the trunk and actually leave the trunk is CH-5, the clone in Boss's studio….which is the hobby room but you will see that later on." CH-1 explained as he turned and led Naruto to where the summon contracts were, Naruto…of course….was lost almost immediately so made sure to stick close to the clone.

CH-1 stopped in front of a long bookcase with scrolls carefully piled on it, he glanced over at Naruto and snickered at the shocked look on his face. The is probably the first and only time he has seen so many summon contracts in one place, let alone all the different kinds of summon scrolls.

"I attempted to organize them all by what type they were and the species of animal summoned," CH-1 explained softly, "but that is as far as I got unfortunately."

He then began to point out the different types to Naruto, noticing the intent look of interest on his face.

Finally the clone asked "So what kind of summons are you looking for Naru-kun?" "I don't know," Naruto answered uncertainly, "I wanted to send word to the old man and ask him not to do anything with the Demon Brothers just yet. At least hold off on their fate until I get back, CH-2 told me that they are like uncles to the twins which makes them somewhat family." CH-1 thought for a moment then said "Well, since you haven't found the communications compartment yet. There are other ways you can use if summons won't work right away, especially with time being the issue here."

"Come with me and I'll show you what I mean, this room has more that a hidden library in it. There is also access to a few other surprises in here, they aren't quite complete compartments of their own though. This room that contains the hidden library also connects to the library compartment, I'll show you where the entrance is once you send your message."

Naruto was curious to find out what the clone meant, so followed the young man out of the hidden room and back to the study. CH-1 motioned for the blond nin to sit in the chair behind the desk then stood beside him, Naruto watched as CH-1 reached down and touched a spot on the chair but didn't get a chance to ask any questions as the floor under the chair disappeared.

Shocking Naruto but he didn't panic as CH-1 put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him, he did keep quiet as to where they were going or what is happening. The chair didn't sink very far, at least to him it seem like it did.

Naruto looked around when the chair came to a stop behind another desk, except this one wasn't as nice as the one in the study. This desk was well worn and look to have been through many years of hard labor, Naruto then glanced around the room and saw that they were in some kind of supply room.

CH-1 explained "This is the supply room of the trunk, everything that has immediate or semi-immediate use is kept here. It doesn't mater if the item is used for the home, travels, training or battles. You name it or even imagine it, then it is probably here." CH-1 lead the way pass shelves, bins and boxes full of unusual items. Naruto trying to look at everything and still keep up with the clone. Nearly bumping into CH-1 when he came to a stop in front of a sturdy shelf that had securely locked boxes of various sizes on it, C. Haku reached up and took down a smallish box. He then motioned for Naruto to follow him back to the desk but not to sit down, instead C. Haku put the box on the surface and sent a tiny pulse of chakra into the box to unlock it.

Naruto watched curiously as C. Haku removed the lid to reveal several cloth wrapped objects, he wasn't able to figure out what they were because of the way each was wrapped up. C. Haku carefully lifted one of the objects out of the box before he started to take off the protective covers, revealing what appears to be a mirror the size of Kakashi-sensei's hand.

"This is called a 2-way communications mirror Naru-kun," CH-1 explained, "the other mirror to this pair is still in the box. They are used by magic users to communicate over long distances mostly, but some used them for any distance."

"I haven't had much time to do a lot of work down here so I'm not completely sure if they can be used as links to other communication devices or not, you can only try and see if you are able to reach our Kage with them."

"Well," Naruto replied thoughtfully, "the old man does have a crystal ball that he uses to keep an eye on what is going on in the village. I could see if the mirrors can link up to that, talking to the old man through his own crystal ball."

C. Haku nodded then showed Naru-kun how to use the mirrors, stepping back out of sight once the preteen ninja understood what to do clearly.

Naruto held the mirror securely in one hand as he sent a bit of energy into it with his other hand, tuning the mirror to his signature so no one else could use it but him. He may give the mate to this one to Inari so they could keep in touch, after he showed the kid how to use it of course.

~*~

Sandaime sighed as he leaned back in his chair, glad to have a few moments break before the next load of paperwork had arrived on his desk. Although he couldn't enjoy the break like he usually did, not after getting word from Kakashi in what Team 7 had been sent into. Worry filled him for the team and especially his adopted 'grandson', even when the ANBU got back with the Demon Brothers and dropped them off in a cell….he didn't relax his concern for the kids.

It was also about this time that he noticed the light coming from under the cloth that he kept over the crystal ball and faint sounds reaching his ears which got him curious as to what is going on.

Sarutobi got to his feet and headed over to find out what is going on. Except he nearly got blasted off his feet when Sarutobi removed the cloth and leaned down to take a look at what was being shown by the crystal ball, thanks to a very familiar voice.

"HEY OLD MAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

There was a pause as if Naruto were waiting for an answer of some sort, then his voice came again.

"COME ON, GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF THAT PERVY-BOOK AND ANSWER!"

"Naruto?" Sandaime asked curiously as he peered into his crystal ball, surprised to see h is adopted grandson's face.

"About time old man," Naruto retorted sarcastically, "thought you would never hear me and I've got the loudest voice there is other than the teme's fan girls." Sarutobi chuckled and would have asked what was going on but Naruto wouldn't let him, he must be in a hurry of some sort.

"Listen old man, I'll explain everything once we get back and no one else is around to be nosy. What I have to say doesn't concern anyone but you and me," Naruto said seriously, "clear?"

Sarutobi could only nod and wonder what the heck is going on in Wave.

"Alright, now did the ANBU collect the Oni Brothers like Kakashi-sensei said and have you done anything with them yet?" Naruto asked anxiously.

Sandaime replied "Yes they did Naruto, I had Ibiki take care of them while I tried to decide what to do with them." "Good, now I want you to hold off on their fate until I get back and we talk. Which means no killing, no life-threatening or career-ending injuries, no collecting the bounty on them if there is one! Just throw them in a cell and keep them locked up for now!" Naruto asked seriously, looking his 'grandfather' straight in the eye.

Sarutobi didn't know what to do except agree, but his mind was already whirling with possible answers as to what Naruto is doing. Whatever it is has to be big, Naruto never did anything small or halfway.

"Great! Thanks old man, now you can go back to keeping that seat warm for me, just be ready to hang onto your pipe and my hat because you are going to be in for the shock of your collective age when I get back." Naruto exclaimed happily, eyes sparkling with mischief.

The crystal ball went blank and stop glowing, Sandaime gazed blankly down at the crystal ball and blinked several times. Not really sure exactly what just happened, it also wasn't until he got back to his seat and sat down that he realized Naruto didn't stick around long enough to get an answer to the request of the brothers. Sandaime sighed, deciding to wait until Naruto got back as the boy got his curiosity up to find out what is going on.

~*~

Naruto would have put the mirror back in the box but CH-1 stopped him, saying "You can keep the mirrors in that box Naru-kun, just keep them in a protective bags and they shouldn't get damaged. They don't even need any special care, just treat them like normal mirrors and things will be fine."

Naruto was surprised at t his and thought about it then smiled his thanks at the clone of his friend, putting the mirror back in the box then pocketing the box once he had it closed and locked again. The blond ninja will have to get those protective bags later on once he returned to the village and knew what kind was needed unless he could find some here in the trunk somewhere, another thing to put on the growing list of tasks to do.

Naruto looked around the supply room and decided to do a bit of exploration before he returned to the study, taking care not to touch anything. At least not until he knew exactly what it did and if the object was dangerous or not. C. Haku came with him and helped with most of the stuff in the supply room, but there was still some stuff the clone hadn't gotten around to yet.

Naruto paused to study what looked like capsules of some sort, wondering what they were for. It must be something as there were boxes of them lining the section of the shelving unit, although the smaller boxes looked to be complete sets….at least just by going what the labels said.

C. Haku explained "From what I have been able to figure out, these are storage capsules. Boss found out that the old man who gave him this trunk, helped out the creator and designer of these little wonders. As thanks, his friend gave him a copy of the designs so he could make his own. The friend knew the man was almost constantly traveling, so probably won't be able to get any…let alone have access to them to begin with."

C. Haku showed Naru-kun how they worked and what all could be put in them, already Naruto's brain was spinning with all the possibilities and etc. Although it stunned him speechless at the sheer size of some things that were stored in a few of the capsules, large 4-5 story houses was the biggest surprise.

Naruto examined some of the pre-made sets, reading the list on the inside of the cover to see what was in each. A lot of the items contained within each set weren't of any use to him right now, although they did look interesting just by what he read and saw in the tiny pictures. In the end, he just decided to take 2 sets of empty capsules with him….1 set for himself and one to give to Tsunami.

The preteen looked around a bit more but didn't see anything that he could take the time to examine closely, so he turned to head back to the chair. Pausing briefly to grab 3 more of the empty sets of capsules, thinking to use them to store the furnishings from the formal dining room and living room. Naruto also came up with the idea to store all the alcohol from the bar in them, thus keeping it out of temptations reach.

Before he got there though, C. Haku got his attention by motioning for him to come down another aisle. So Naruto followed the clone with curiosity on his face. The 2 stopped in front of another series of shelves with good size bins on it, except these bins didn't have covers and were filled with white crystals of various sizes and shapes.

C. Haku saw Naru-kun's puzzled expression and began to explain "These are Chakra crystals, like the one I am wearing. They store vast amounts of chakra and release it back into your body whenever you are running low, although it does take awhile to completely fill. Boss managed to fill 1 per year and just finished the last one before his death, he then created 7 clones and put one crystal on each of us. If he had more time, Boss would have created another clone to act as backup for his fight. Maybe even had his clone take his place in protecting Zabuza-sama, but it didn't happen that way unfortunately."

Naruto nodded sadly, time just wasn't on Haku-chan's side during that period. As much as he felt bad about loosing a good friend, there wasn't much Naruto could do about it except do his best for Haku's kids.

"How does the chakra get into the crystals?" Naruto asked thoughtfully.

"The crystals absorb any chakra close to them, so if you hold one of the crystals in your hands and focus the chakra toward your hands then the crystal will take care of the rest. You can also do the same thing by keeping the crystal close to your skin, like as a pendent on a necklace of some sort." C. Haku answered calmly.

Naruto nodded then started to look through all the different crystal shapes, picking out 10 as close to being the shape of a leaf as he could. Once done, Naruto took them back to the desk and sat down on the chair. He sat back with one of the crystals in his hands and concentrated, C. Haku watched as Naruto's hands started to glow with chakra and the crystal began to suck it all in.

C. Haku was amazed at how fast Naru-kun filled the crystal with chakra, it took the Boss a whole year just about to fill just one!

Naruto kept going until he had filled each crystal with all the chakra they could hold, then stopped and relaxed although he wasn't even winded or tired. When the blond was done, he started looking for something to fasten the crystals to. C. Haku solved that problem when he produced orange leather chokers, chuckling when Naru-kun's eyes lit up at the sight of all the orange.

With C. Haku's help, Naruto got the crystals fastened to the chokers. After that, he gathered them up off the desk and put the chokers on his lap. Looking at the clone and saying "I'm making some help for you in the rooms your responsible for, this way you won't be alone and keep trying to do everything yourself."

C. Haku smiled softly then said "Thank-you Naru-kun, I appreciate it a lot. I found these crystals as well, thinking that you might want to give your teammates and sensei a gift."

The clone placed 4 crystals on the desk, surprising Naruto with them. One of the crystals was in the shape of a cherry blossom, the second was in the shape of an opened fan, the 3rd looked like a white wolf with its head back to howl at the moon and the last crystal surprised Naruto, it was shaped like a spiral.

"Whoa, awesome! Thanks CH-1," Naruto exclaimed and immediately put his crystal on another orange choker, "I like it a lot. How did you know I liked spirals?"

C. Haku chuckled "You told Boss, remember, plus it is all over your clothes. I wanted to find one that looked like a whirlpool like your last name means, but that was the closest I could get."

Naruto flushed as one hand went up to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, he had forgotten about that. As good as the memory is, it still hurt that he couldn't save Haku-chan and it probably will for some time to come. Naruto pocketed the other crystals to give to his teammates and sensei later.

They would have returned to the study after that but Naruto caught sight of more trunks neatly stacked against the far wall, so got up to investigate after putting the clone chokers in a pocket for now. C. Haku followed him and explained that they were other entrances to the main trunk…meaning the one he is in now, all they had are the 2 normal-size compartments plus the compartment with the stairs that lead down into the courtyard. There was another stack of the same secondary trunks next to this one, but they had an apartment compartment included with a door that opened out into the courtyard instead.

Now this gave Naruto an idea, he could use these two stacks and place them at certain locations for quick access to the main trunk. Not to mention fast escapes from trouble that ninjas like him seem to always attract, at least it was in his case.

Naruto carefully shrunk down 2 secondary trunks, planning on putting one in the Sanctuary he is creating here in Wave and the other will be a gift to Old Man Hokage for his office. He would have to see about putting some sort of security on the Hokage's trunk as not just anyone could have access to it. But that will have to come later on. This time they made it back to the main office/study without any more distractions, once there Naruto got to work creating the 10 clones and giving them the chokers. Telling them that they were to help CH-1 with the rooms he's responsible for, each clone nodded and looked at C. Haku for their tasks.

While the clone of his friend took CN-1 to 10 into the hidden library and got them started on a task, Naruto went digging in the desk drawers again and found an unused book which he used to keep notes in.

So Naruto spent the next 4 hours madly scribbling everything down, dividing the book into sections so he could keep each compartment straight. Although with the apartment compartment, he had to divide that section into subsections so each room would have its own. Naruto also kept the letters he got from Haku so far in the book, for now at least.

Once done, Naruto put the book and pen in a pocket then got to his feet to continue his explorations. He needed to check out the other compartments of the trunk before he could start his plans, but first he went back downstairs to get something to eat and stash that alcohol away before he forgot.

CH-1 made sure he had enough packing material once Naruto told him why he is going to store the furnishings of those two rooms away, so Naruto created 10 more clones and put them to work with that task while he got something to eat. Making sure the clones understood that they had to be careful and not damage anything, the clones all nodded seriously and got to work.

Naruto returned to the kitchen and started to scrounge around in the cupboards to find something he recognized to eat, the teen was so busy with his search that he didn't hear or see CH-2 come down the stairs with the twins and the clone that he left with them.

"Trying to find something to eat Naru-kun?" CH-2 asked in amusement.

Naruto jumped a foot then spun around to face them, surprised to see them then calmed down.

"CH-2, what are you doing here? CH-1 assumed that you couldn't leave the nursery and playroom, at least that is what he told me?" Naruto asked curiously.

"He's right in a way," C. Haku answered calmly, "but my task is the twins so I can go anywhere in the apartment compartment. Except your room, the study and a few other areas which you can make off limits to the kids and I."

"Besides, the twins are in the habit of coming down here for lunch as it gives them a different environment to be in. Boss didn't like to keep them in the playroom all the time, so brought them to others rooms as long as someone is there to help watch them. They sometimes slept with him in his room, mostly when they had trouble sleeping in the nursery."

C. Naruto kept the twins occupied in the family room while C. Haku continued on into the kitchen.

"You can help me with lunch, Naru-kun," C. Haku replied calmly, "I'll show you where everything is and what each item in the cupboard is used for." Naruto nodded in agreement then focused his attention on what the clone of his friend is doing. Memorizing what C. Haku said so he would know where to find things later, but it will take more time until he became comfortable enough with all the different foods and ingredients to actually use them.

The 2 worked on in comfortable silence, speaking only when necessary. Naruto paid close attention to each task C. Haku gave him, following the instructions to the best of his ability. Lunch preparations certainly went faster with 2 people working on it instead of just 1, the kitchen also started to fill up with wonderful smells that made Naruto's mouth water.

Once lunch was ready to be dished up, C. Haku showed Naruto where the dishes were and had him set the breakfast bar. C. Naruto got the twins settled in their high chairs and moved over to the breakfast bar, then he turned to help Boss and C. Haku bring the food over.

Naruto filled the twins sippy cups with juice then carefully snapped the lids on, making sure the cover was secure and wouldn't come off before he gave them to the twins. Chuckling at the "Tank-you!" he got afterward. There wasn't much left to do after that, so Naruto just sat down in a chair beside the twins, although he did watch C. Haku as the clone dished the slightly cooled food onto the twins plates.

Once everyone had sat down and had a plateful of food, they dug in and simply enjoyed the meal. Naruto especially, but maybe it was because he helped cook it. The preteen never really paid much attention to food that wasn't ramen, oh he would eat what was put in front of him but he never gave it much notice. At least he would once Naruto made sure it hadn't been tampered with, being what he is makes him no stranger to assignation attempts.

Another reason he is glad to have this trunk now, he can take shelter here when things get nasty. Not to mention that here he can get 3 full 'healthy' meals instead of ramen all the time, nor would Naruto have to worry about trying to restock on what he is running low on. He plan on taking full advantage of the Greenhouse Compartment and doing what Haku suggested, at least he was going to try and grow as much of his own food as he could.


	3. Chapter 2

Gentle Soul

Chapter 2

By

Phoenix Firestorm

**(re-posted after minor corrections and alterations were made, see end of chapter for details)**

Naruto headed toward the bar in the game room, feeling very full from the great lunch he had. As thans, he helped C.H.#2 to clean up and put things away again. After that the group headed into the game room, Clone Haku #2 put a children's movie on for the twins to watch while he helped Naruto to clean out the bar. C.N.#1 stayed with the twins to keep them occupied, at least for awhile.

It wasn't until they began to take all the different bottles of alcohol out that Naruto saw the percentage of alcohol on the labels, C.H.#2 explained that it meant how strong each bottle was - alcohol wise. So Naruto decided to only lock up anything stronger than 5%, leaving the weaker stuff in the cupboards. Naruto also made a list of fruit juices and other drinks to stock up on, with C.H.#2's help of course.

The whole task didn't take very long to do with the 2 of them at it, although Naruto had to wonder at some of the names on the bottles. Seriously….Butterbeer, Firewhiskey were just among several that got his attention. Once the other bottles were packed securely into the boxes and then placed into individual capsules, Clone Haku took care of listing the contents of each capsule on the inside cover of the capsule box. This way Naruto would know what is in ech capsule without having to look in all of them just to find what he wants, plus C.H#2's writing is much neater than Naruto's.

The young preteen then put the box of capsules high up on a shelf and behind a locked door so no one will be tempted or get any ideas. Naruto took one more look around to make sure nothing had been forgotten then he gathered up his papers and notebook, putting them back into his pocket to be organized later on.

"Thanks for the help C.H.#2," Naruto said as he turned to leave the game room, "what are you and the twins doing next?"

"You're welcome Naru-chan," Clone Haku #2 answered calmly, "it all depends on how tired the twins are what we do next. If they aren't, then we usually go outside to play in the backyard. The door leading to the backyard is out in the family room, beside the fireplace. Maybe you can join us later on whenever you get done what you have planned next." Naruto paused to check Haku's letter that listed everything about the trunk before he answered C.H.#2's question, making sure nothing had been forgotten in this compartment. Although Naruto knew he would discover more about the trunk as time went by, especially once he moved all his stuff from the apartment to here.

"Hard to say C.H.#2, there are a few things in this compartment that I have left to see. After that, I move on to the next compartment." Naruto finally said.

"Well, you don't actually have to leave this compartment in order to see the other compartments. Some of the compartments are connected to each other, but I don't know where all the entrances are. Boss Haku only discovered a few of them before his death, like the secret library in the study has a connection to the library compartment." C.H.#2 explained.

"Really, that would be cool and certainly come in handy. Not to mention save on time in the future,"especially when that time saved can keep me and those with me alive longer. Do you know of any right off the top of your head, I'd like to explore as much of the trunk as I can while still in Wave country?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I know of 4 that are in this compartment," Clone Haku #2 replied thoughtfully, "there is an entrance to the Hobby Room Compartment upstairs. The one I told you about in the secret library that leads to the library compartment, the other 2 I know of are outside in the backyard, so you can either check them out now or later on. They're the entrances to the Greenhouse Compartment and the Animal Sanctuary Compartment, the greenhouse also connects on to the Medical Facility Compartment which links up with the Training Facility Compartment."

Naruto understood that, he had spotted a few other doors in the family room which may lead to other places but he wasn't sure what to do next.

* * *

Kakashi frowned faintly as he watched a certain blond hair, orange clad preteen while he leaned against the rails of the bridge. Sakura was helping Tsunami with the meals, making sure everyone had at least one serving of food before heading back to work on the bridge. The kids were running around with buckets of water and tin cups, making sure all the workers had plenty of water to drink as well.

Something that won't take much longer, not with everyone able to pitch in hard at work. At least 4 more days, the 5th day having been set aside to celebrte and etc before the ninja left for Konoha, if nothing else happened to screw things up.

Which is why he is watching Sasuke and Naruto uneasily, something was off with Naruto but he couldn't figure out what it is or why his instincts were tingling uncomfortably as if trying to warn him.

Eventually Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, mentally dismissing it as no important enough for now. He'll discuss things over with the Hokage when they return to the village and after he gave his report, maybe by then things will have solved themselves or at least he could hope.

* * *

Naruto didn't even glance toward the breathtaking image in the huge picture window in the lounge, he'd never leave the room if he stopped. So the young ninja headed down the hall, glancing at the doors as he went and listing what each room was in his head. It wasn't until he reached the end of the hall and turned the corner to enter a huge room that Naruto stopped, slowly looking around at the numerous paintings hanging on the walls and other artwork scattering about the space.

"Haku did all these paintings?" Naruto murmured softly as he slowly walked along the wall and gazed at each piece of art, although he would sometimes stop to get a closer look at one that got his attention. There were quite a few other pieces of artwork not done by his friend but a majority of them were Haku's, so Naruto was partial to what he liked.

Naruto wandered through the gallery, pausing at each painting and piece of artwork for a good look at it before moving on to the next. It took the blond nin 3 hours to go through the whole gallery and contents, then another hour to find the door to what Haku called the 'Hobby Room' on the list. Mainly because the door blended in really well with the wall around it, Naruto felt more than a bit stupid when he finally found it.

Naruto was surprised to find what looked to be an art studio, judging by the number of easels and canvas scattered about the large sunny room. Naruto shut the door behind him and carefully made his way further into the room, making sure to watch where he put his feet so he won't damage anything. Most of the canvas on the various easels were covered with white cloth, so Naruto didn't disturb the cloth despite being curious as to what is underneath.

The blond nin was so busy looking around that he didn't notice a door on the far wall open and another clone wearing a paint splattered smock come into the room, arms full of paint containers of bright colors. The clone put his load of paint on a nearby counter and turned back toward Naruto, who still wasn't aware of his presence.

"Hello Naru-kun," C.H.#5 called out as he headed toward the boss's friend, "how are you handling things so far?"

Naruto spun around rapidly but manages to keep from knocking anything over, he gazed in shock and surprise at yet another clone.

"I thought there was only the 4 clones?" Naruto blurted out as he watched the paint splattered clone come over.

C.H.#5 chuckled "Technically there was only suppose to be the 4 clones, I'm something of a last minute afterthought. Boss Haku created me once he knew he might not make it back alive, my crystal isn't as full as the others so I need to be more careful."

"My task is to finish all the projects Boss had started in here, not start anymore. I'm also to teach you how to paint as well, if you wanted to learn…that is? So I work at my own pace and take as many breaks as needed, nor do they have to be long breaks either."

Naruto nodded to show that he understood and knew he would have done the same thing if in Haku's place, the blond preteen glanced around the room again thoughtfully.

"So painting is Haku's hobby?" he asked curiously.

"One of a few serious hobbies Boss Haku had," C.H.#5 explained, "making herbal medicines is another and growing his own healing plants for those medicines. The Greenhouse compartment has several rooms dedicated to those kinds of plants, while several others are used for growing food."

"Now another thing I am to do is help you set up your own hobby room, you llike plants and pranking if my memories from Boss Haku are correct. You also like to train whenever you can, more to stay in shape and also to improve your Shinobi skills where needed." Naruto nodded and followed C.H.#5 back to the door the preteen came through, getting another surprise when the door didn't open back up into the gallery but a long hallway lined with doors.

"Each of these doors opens up into a room dedicated to a hobby of some kind," Clone Haku explained as he motioned to all the doors, "what you need to do is concentrate on whatever your hobby may be and the room with that hobby will light up. Once it does and you claim it, your name will appear on the door and no one else can enter it without your permission."

Naruto thought about what C.H.#5 said for a few moments then said "Well, I can do all the gardening I want in the greenhouse. The same with my training, I'll just use the Training Facility compartment. About the only thing left is my love of pranks, so that is going to be what I focus on for my 'hobby'."

Naruto took a deep breath and relaxed, focusing on all his memories of past pranks. Doing as C.H.#5 outlined and stood in deep concentration for several moments, at least until until Clone Haku nudged him and he opened his eyes again. Widening them in surprise when he saw a set of ornate double doors in front of him, his full name engraved in gold on the doors.

"I'm impressed Naru-kun, you called the Master Room of Pranks to you, very few have had the concentration and focus to get that room's attention. Much less the rooms interest, it only responds to those who are truly gifted in the art of pranks. At least, that is what Boss Haku has found out about it."

* * *

Sasuke tiredly stumbled up the stairs to the room assigned him, Naruto and Kakashi-Sensei. He would have even been too tired to eat but did so because the dobe did, even though Naruto had to be just as tired if not more than him. The Dobe just didn't show it, the blond had been acting strangely ever since those two had died.

It bothered the 'avenger' that something was affecting his Dobe so much that he didn't know what it would be, Sasuke might have understood the friendship between Naruto and Haku if he had allowed himself to have any friends or let anyone close enough to become important to him.

Sure it was a shame that people as gifted and talented as Zabuza and Haku died, but that is the life of a Shinobi. Sasuke understood that much from his own background as a survivor of the massacure of his clan and seeing what the rest of Konoha went through as a Shinobi village, the life of a Shinobi wasn't pretty or glamorous or even long-lasting. It was hard, painful, dark with negative emotion that even the brightest of lights had trouble piercing through, sure it had its own rewards but you needed to work for them all.

At least that is what he had learned just from his observations on everyone around him, he didn't brood all the time….just most of the the time. Sasuke did take time to watch, observe and cataloge all the data on everyone around him so he would know what to expect if he ever had to work with any of them in the future.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he sank back into the water of the hot tub, leaning against the ceder panels as he slowly began to relax. Mentally going over everything that had happened today, all there was left to do is check out the backyard and then this compartment will be done.

In fact, Naruto decided to take all of tomorrow and just relax. Write up what he had found out so far on the trunk, check on his various groups of clomes and play with the twins. Most of that could be done in the morning, which would leave the afternoon to play with his niece and nephew in the backyard.

First though, he had to get a start on his plans for the Wave Hideout. Which meant Naruto needed to find out how to buy the land that the treehouse is on, this way he will have a place to retreat too should things go sour in Konoha. He didn't want to think that, but he needed to face facts. With the way his childhood turned out and the way his life may follow that in the future, especially with the Fox sealed in him. Naruto had to be prepared to vanish at the slightest threat, major threat to his life.

Hopefully that will never happen and he won't have to disappear, but Naruto's instincts and gut were telling him to start making plans. Besides, he will clear everything with the Old Man Hokage anyway. This way they can get working together to ensure his continued survival, Naruto also plan on bringing the Daimoyo into this as well. With the 2 most powerful men in Fire Country working together, the 3 of them should be able to come up with something.

Naruto sighed again as he hauled his beet red, wrinkled as a prune, body out of the water. Dried off then pulled on a robe he grabbed from the closet, it was a bit big on him since Haku was taller and skinner than him but it will do for now. He then left the attached bathroom and entered his new bedroom, searching among Haku's clothes for something that will fit him since he really didn't want to put on dirty clothes again. Eventually he did find an outfit that fit, so Naruto pulled it on. Thinking that it must have been one of Haku's old outfits from when he was Naruto's age, it was still a bit tight in some places but he could live with that.

Once clean and dressed, Naruto took the time to clean up the suite. Something he is pretty use to since he had to clean his apartment as best he could, learning on the way with each mistake he made. Thankfully the old man Hokage gave him a few lessons with each visit he made, time permitting him of course. When Naruto had finished the general clean-up, he gathered up his notes and headed for the study again to start work on the Wave Hideout.

The young ninja absently wondered how his clones were doing in the prank room, he had created 20 clones to check out the room and see what was actually in there. The first 10 were to see what was in room and what all the supplies actually did, the second set of 10 were to stay back out of the way and take notes of what their brothers in the first 10 found. Naruto will be able to do more once he knew what was exactly in the prank room and how it all worked. Needless to say, this is one part of his inheritance from Haku that he is really looking forward too.

* * *

Clone Naruto chuckled after his head popped out of the water, seeing Inari almost hidden out of sight by the pile of fish he caught and toss up onto the shore for the child to put into the baskets they brought. The clone climbed out of the water, shook himself off then proceeded to help his 'little brother' pack up the fish. He also managed to catch a few types of shellfish that he recognized as good to eat, so stuffed them into another basket but this one had a lid they could fasten on.

"Think we caught enough Inari?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"More than enough Naruto big brother," Inari exclaimed, "there might even be leftovers for tomorrow."

"Might be or might not be, we've got some pretty hungry people back at your place. All we have to do now is get some veggies and herbs from the forest, but first we'll take the seafood back to your place so they can start preparing it." Naruto answered with a thoughtful look on his face as he created 2 clones to help with the load, Boss gave him enough chakra to create 1 or 2 clones if he was careful and rationed it wisely. Something very few outside the old man Hokage knew to look pass the mask Boss always wore, seeing the idiot joker instead of the wary and survival-first Naruto.

"How will we find that stuff Naruto?" Inari asked curiously as he helped with one of the smaller baskets.

"Easy little bro, pay close attention and I'll teach you how to find eatable food just about anywhere. Old man Teuchi and his daughter back home taught me how to forage for food just by looking at what is in your natural environment around you, they couldn't always afford to buy what they needed at the markets so they either grew their own or went to what Nature provided around them."

"If it couldn't be found back home then they substituted instead, which helped them and me to learn what is good and safe to eat. They also taught me with books on what is eatable in other countries, knowing that as a ninja it would be very important to know what is in your surroundings no matter if you are at home or on a mission or just travelling."

It didn't take long for them to get back to the house and drop off the seafood, grab fresh baskets then take off to the woods behind the house. Knowing not to stray too far despite the fact that Gato is finally gone, there is still the thugs that the man hired to deal with but most of them took off to more profitable and safe environments after the battle on the bridge. Still, it paid to keep all your senses open and alert just in case trouble did come knocking again.

A few hours later, both Naruto and Inari came bck with the 2 clones behind them, each carrying a basket almost overflowing with food. Naruto and the 2 clones had the vegetables while Inari had the herb basket, surprising everyone by how much they did find. Especially Team 7 since they didn't know much about their teammate, just what they saw and also learned from others.

Tsunami and Sakura were in the kitchen, cooking the seafood as it was brought in by one of the boys. Kakashi, Sasuke and Tazuna were sitting outside cleaning the seafood. Or rather, Kakashi and Tazuna were cleaning while Sasuke took the baskets into the house as they became full.

"Where did you get all that Dobe?" Sasuke asked bluntly, curiosity on his face.

"In the woods Teme," Naruto retorted back, "it's called foraging for food. I learned how to from Jiji Teuchi and his daughter, it's something they did when they couldn't get what they needed from the market."

Naruto ignored the others and started to show Inari how to clean, prepare and cook everything they harvested. Including how to store it so nothing will go bad, this way Tsunami and her family will be able to survive even after they had left. Boss told him to pay extra attention to Inari and make sure the boy knew how to survive, keeping food on the table with everything learned from his big brother.

Nor was it long until supper was ready and placed on the table, Naruto sat beside Inari at one end and continued their conversation while they ate. This made Inari's mother and grandfather very happy, amused and also puzzled Kakashi. Sakura ignored everything and everyone but Sasuke, while Sasuke ate silently while eyeing Naruto grumpily.

* * *

Naruto smiled faintly as he sat with the twins, listening to C.H.#2 read the children a bedtime story. He had dispelled the clone created earlier so he would have a chance to absorb and organize the memories carried by that clone, planning to create a new clone when he got up the next morning.

One of the things he planned to do tomorrow while he continue to explore the trunk, is create 2 more clones who will be assigned tasks outside the trunk. One clone would be sent to start the process needed to buy the island that the hideout is located on, if it was possible to do so. The other clone would lead a literal army of clones on Gatou's headquarters and strip it clean of anything valuable or useful, the clones would be henged to look like someone else of course and only the lead clone would have a chakra crystal to keep him going.

Once that clone and army is done, the clone will send any money found off to the clone getting the island while everything else is being brought back to the trunk and him. When Naruto said everything would be stripped of Gatou's properties, he meant everything. Money, business papers, personal possessions and furnishings. Naruto fully planned to take over Gatou's empire and put everything to good use, but he would have to be careful and not be discovered.

This is just one of the many plans he has been busy with in case something forced him to leave Konoha, giving him something to survive on while getting his new life going. Naruto also planned to create another clone and send it to Painter Haku so he can learn how to become an artist, Naruto knew that he would never be as good as Haku but it gave him something to work on when bored in his free time.

Besides, knowing how to draw and sketch things will come in incredibly handy. Especially on certain missions and assignments where such a skill is necessary, even if the person doesn't have much talent in it. Which Naruto hoped he did have, such a talent would be great to have.

Once the twins were settled and tucked into bed, Naruto decided to head off to bed as well. Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day and he needed all the rest he can get, especially with all he has yet to do before he returned to his team. So much to do and so little time to do it in as Naruto knew the saying went, he just hoped everything or most of it could be done before they left Wave Country.

* * *

Inari smiled happily as he got ready for bed, faith and belief in Heros fully restored thanks to Naruto nii-san. Everything had returned to normal or as normal as could be because of Gatou, the bridge was nearly completed and the people of Wave had pulled together to take back their home.

The best part is his new big brother figure in Naruto, something that he had always wanted but never got. His father-figure did a good job but it wasn't the same as having an actual father or other siblings. Inari, of course, didn't think much of Naruto nii-san's teammates or teacher. They were okay, but no where's as good as his big brother.

Inari climbed into bed and snuggled down under the covers, waiting for his mother to come in and tuck him in like she always did. Getting a surprise when Naruto nii-san came in and settling on his bed, then proceeded to read him the story of the Gutsy Ninja by someone called Jriaya.

A story that quickly became Inari's favorite as he listened to it with an expression of awe and amazement, keeping his attention spellbound throughout the whole story. Once done, Naruto nii-san ruffled Inari's hair fondly and slipped out of the room. Leaving a copy of the Gutsy Ninja for Inari to read and cherish much like Naruto valued his own copy, Tsunami slipped into the room seconds later and proceeded to tuck her son in for the night.

She had heard Naruto reading the story to Inari so kept out of the room to give the boys their bonding time, Naruto having quickly become another son to her family. Someone she fully intended to take care of no matter what anyone else said, Tsunami knew her father wouldn't complain much so had nothing to worry about from that corner of her family.

Naruto might protest some but won't fight for long, knowing that she only meant well by her actions. The ones that might protest the most would be his teammates, his teacher probably won't sense he seem to honestly care about Naruto but Tsunami couldn't be totally sure about him.

Once done in Inari's room, Tsunami doublechecked everything in the house then went to bed herself. Tomorrow will be another busy day so everyone needed to get as much rest as possible, but it was a good kind of busy since the bridge was nearing completion. The people of Wave are taking their lives back from Gatou's rule and restoring everything to the way it should be, everyone was filled with happiness and determination to do the right thing this time around.

Sandaime frowned thoughtfully as he mentally went over everything learned from the reports sent in by Ibiki and his team over in T & I department, the Demon Brothers were still alive and will remain so until Naruto returned. He will make his final decision on their fate once he has heard everything from Kakashi, Naruto and the rest of Team 7. Naruto especially had some explaining to do once they were alone and won't be disturbed. Something he is looking forward to greatly, the elderly man always did look forward to Naruto's visit and next prank….despite the headaches those pranks may cause afterward.

Another thing that had him concerned is a suitable reward for Naruto, a child that he had come to think of as another grandson. Surviving a mission like that deserves a special something as reward, something that isn't money since the pay for this is more than enough. Also knowing Naruto, his first thoughts will be either food or training or learning a new jutsu or all of the above.

* * *

You shouldn't worry so much Haku, the brats will be fine with the gakI." a familiar voice reached the young man who sat on the stone edge of the pool.

Haku glanced up from his observations within the pool, smiling when he saw his mentor and adoptive father-figure coming toward him. His birth mother also with him, something he didn't expect to be blessed with but hoped would happen.

"I know Zabu-papa, but I can't help it. I don't want to miss out on my children's lives just because I am dead and in heaven, Michael-san said I can watch the mortal realm all I want so long as I don't do anything to interfer with it."

"Something that I have absolutely no intention of doing," Haku answered calmly as he turned his attention back to the images shown in the pool of water, "although it is amusing watching Naru-kun learn about fatherhood and so on. Based on what I have seen of Naru-kun and know of him, he will be a wonderful father to my children and also his own once he finds that special and suitable lady."

"You are right about that Haku," his mother replied softly, "Naruto's mother also spends time watching her son in the pool. Although afterward she usually has to go blow off steam in the training yards, mostly because of the way her son is treated in his home village. So she spars against the other fighter spirits here in heaven to vent and keep in shape although not many have been able to win against her. Even the archangels have a little difficulty when she really gets ticked off and lets loose, which has often surprised those who watched."

Haku was surprised by this and asked "Naru-kun's parents are here too."

"So the gaki's parents are dead as well and up here too, wonder who they are?" Zabuza replied thoughtfully, although he had a feeling that he knew who the father was…just going by the gaki's physical appearance.

"Yes, but only his mother. His father is in Shinigami's realm and isn't likely to leave it any time soon unfortunately. Shinigami isn't one to let go of his sacrifices willingly, at least not the ones he actually values." Haku's mother explained as she joined her son.

"Oh, she wouldn't be anyone I know or heard of?" Zabuza asked curiously.

"Maybe, her name is Kushina Uzumaki but she mostly goes by the title of **'The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero'** for various reasons." The older woman explained, only to chuckle at Zabuza's reaction to such news.

Although it took the swordsman several moments to remember where exactly he had heard those names before, but once he did…

Suddenly the memory of who Kushina was, and therefore who her husband was. Or rather, the only logical person she could be married to. **"HOLY SHIT! HOLY FUCK! HOLY SHIT FUCK!" **

Haku turned and raised his extremely feminine eyebrow at Zabuza. "What exactly did you just remember?"

Zabuza stopped freaking out to stare at his adopted son. "Let's just say I no longer have any sore pride for losing to that boy. Seeing as he's the son of Kushina Uzumaki, enough for me to have pretty much surrendered if I'd known that before, and Minato-"I'm the only Flee-On-Sight nin to be so for every village not allied to Konoha"-fucking-**NAMIKAZE**."

* * *

**FINALLY! IT IS DONE AT LAST, I THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER GET DONE! HA! TAKE THAT WRITER'S BLOCK, I BEAT YOUR STUPID OBSTICLE COURSE AND SENT YOU FLYING! **Enjoy the chapter everyone, let me know what you think please and thank-you.

* * *

The last 3 paragraphs was written to me in a review from Selonianth, who gave me premission to add it to the end of this chapter. As long as I mention who those paragraphs came from and so on. At least there is suppose to be 3 paragraphs, if there isn't then something went screwy after posting the chapter.

* * *

Program Used: Microsoft Works Word Processor

# of pages: 10 pages without notes, 10 pages with notes.

Stories yet to be updated:

Poison Snow - not started yet

Burning Angel - 4 pages typed up

Gentle Soul - completed and posted

Son of the Death god - not started yet

Prince of Thieves - not started yet

Shinobi Pokemon Master - not started yet

Mr. Angel and son - not started yet


End file.
